BOULDER — Many Colorado football players met as a group Tuesday night to watch ESPN’s outstanding 30 for 30 documentary about the program’s rise under former coach Bill McCartney, “The Gospel According to Mac.”

“We had a bunch of guys who showed up to that, and there were a lot of them who watched it at home,” coach Mike MacIntyre said Wednesday. “They were really inspired by it. A lot of guys have talked to me about it. What’s funny, coach Darian Hagan, he’s all over it. They go, ‘You were skinny and fast.’ They’re giving him a hard time. And they’re making fun of his Jeri Curl, too.”

MacIntyre said he watched only pieces of it because Tuesday nights are work nights for him, but he plans to watch it from beginning to end on Thursday night. MacIntyre said McCartney has been an inspiration to him, too.

Boulder — It might have gotten overlooked in the heartbreak of Colorado’s loss to UCLA Saturday in the Rose Bowl, but wide receiver Nelson Spruce became the Pac-12’s all-time receptions leader with 267 catches.

“He broke a record which is awesome and is going to stand for a while,” CU coach Mike MacIntyre said Monday. “But the thing about Nelson is, he’s a phenomenal student, he’s a phenomenal person, he’s a great leader. He’s going to be a success at whatever he decides to do. I definitely feel like he’ll play at the next level for a while, but whatever he decides to do business-wise or investment-wise, I’m going to find out what it is. He’ll probably be hiring some of our guys one day to work for him.”

Spruce already held CU records for receptions and receiving yards. He needs only two TD catches to break the school record (22) in that category.

“He could play in any style offense and would excel,” MacIntyre said. “He’s stayed durable, stayed healthy, he’s always come with a great work ethic, he’s always been prepared to play, every game. He just keeps showing up every day. That’s a credit to his mental toughness and the way he takes care of his body.”

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Valor Christian grad Christian McCaffrey, a super sophomore for Stanford, takes a handoff in last week’s squeaker at Washington State (William Mancebo/Getty Images)

Boulder — Stanford got off to a rough start this year, failing to score a touchdown in a 16-6 loss at Northwestern in the season opener.

But since then, Stanford is undefeated and is ranked ninth. The Cardinal (7-1, 6-0) could find itself in the thick of College Football Playoff scenarios over the final month of the regular season. The first CFP ranking will be released Tuesday.

Stanford has impressive wins at USC (41-31) and over UCLA (56-35), and its final road trip of the regular season comes this week when the Cardinal comes to Boulder. Needless to say, Stanford will be heavily favored.

After this week, Stanford has home games vs. Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame. If Stanford runs the table, it it could be sitting pretty when the four playoff teams are announced.

Stanford did survive a scare last week, escaping with a 30-28 win at Washington State. Stanford got the winning points on a field goal with 1:54 left, and Washington State missed a 43-yard field goal on the last play of the game.

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The Stanford sophomore, who will play at Colorado on Saturday, has played himself into Heisman Trophy consideration with a remarkable string of performances this season. Stanford (7-1, 6-0) is ranked ninth and is undefeated since a season-opening loss at Northwestern.

Under coach Mark Wetmore, the Colorado men’s cross country team has won the Pac-12 championship all five years it has been in the league (Daily Camera/Cliff Grassmick)

While the Colorado football team struggles to become relevant in the Pac-12, the nationally renowned cross country program continues to dominate the conference. The CU men and women swept the Pac-12 cross country championships Friday at Washington State.

The CU men won their fifth consecutive title and are undefeated at the meet since joining the conference in 2011. They won the past two NCAA titles, are ranked No. 1 in the country and won the “Pre-Nationals” meet two weeks ago on the course in Louisville, Ky., where the NCAAs will be held Nov. 21. No team has three-peated at NCAAs since Arkansas from 1998 through 2000.

At the conference meet, senior Pierce Murphy led the CU men with a fourth-place finish. Other Buffs in the top 10 included John Dressel (sixth) and Ammar Moussa (seventh). Stanford finished second and Oregon third.

The CU women, ranked third nationally and the top-ranked women’s team in the conference, were led by Kaitlyn Benner (second) Erin Clark (fourth), Melanie Nun (seventh) and Maddie Alm (eighth).

Benner and Alm ran for Monarch High School. Nun ran for Legacy.

The Oregon women finished second, Stanford third.

Next up for the Buffs is the NCAA regional meet, Nov. 13 in Albuquerque.

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CU tight end Sean Irwin, shown here scoring at Cal last year, is emerging as a reliable target this season for QB Sefo Liufau. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Boulder — The Buffs lost big-play wide receiver Shay Fields two games ago with a high ankle sprain, but they have an emerging big-play tight end of sorts in Sean Irwin.

Quarterback Sefo Liufau didn’t throw much to the tight ends early in the season, but Irwin has become more of a weapon in recent weeks. He has three catches that went for 20 yards or more.

“With Sean kind of emerging as a target, it kind of gives the defense another thing to worry about,” Liufau said. “In the beginning of the year, our tight ends didn’t get the ball, hardly at all if at all. It just gives (the defense) something else to worry about. Their safeties can’t just focus on the receivers and leave the tight end go. We definitely want to try to get them the ball a little bit more, make it so the DBs can’t single out our receivers.”

Irwin has had two huge receptions, one of 47 yards, the other for 42.

“He’s bailed me out twice now,” Liufau said. “Both were seams down the middle, and backside safety didn’t want to take the corner route. Sean ended up just going out and catching the ball over the defensive back. He made an athletic play, which is rare for him.”

Liufau was teasing, of course.

“He’s a great target for us, and we don’t want anyone to overlook him because he hasn’t gotten the ball. He’s done a really good job of making plays for us, and I expect him to keep making plays.”

Irwin was born among triplets, and one of them — Jeromy — is a left tackle for the Buffs who went down with a season-ending knee injury in the second game.

Colorado defensive tackle Justin Solis is one of many Buffs who go into games in southern California with a chip on their shoulders. (Daily Camera, Jeremy Papasso)

Boulder — More than 40 Colorado players are from California, so when the Buffs travel there for a game — especially for a game at UCLA or Southern Cal — there’s a little extra motivation for them. That will be the case Saturday when they play UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

“Every Pac-12 game is big to us, just to go back and play in our home towns,” said senior defensive tackle Justin Solis. “It gets personal for us. These are the schools we grew up watching. A lot of us didn’t get offers from them, we take that personally, like we weren’t good enough for them. It will be more important to us, just because we come from that area.”

His favorite team growing up was USC.

“I loved watching SC,” Solis said. “I would always go to the games, and that was definitely my dream school. I ended up here in Colorado for a reason. It’s just, when we play those teams, I play a little harder, just knowing that, ‘Yeah, you guys made a mistake not picking me up.'”

Solis said he got an offer from UCLA but not USC.

“When I came up here, I just fell in love with this place,” Solis said. “It’s just a beautiful place, beautiful campus. It’s just a great place to be. There’s so much history with this program. I just want to be part of the whole rebuilding and bring this program back to the top.”

One frustration when the Buffs travel to southern California is that so many players have so many family members and friends who want to attend the game, but there’s only so much ticket availability. Solis is hoping to add to the four tickets he’s already secured.

“It’s just a struggle to get tickets for this game, because everyone’s from that area,” Solis said. “I gotta get me some more tickets.”

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Chidobe Awuzie has been a standout on the CU defense. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Boulder — Junior defensive back Chidobe Awuzie is one of Colorado’s standout defensive players, but coach Mike MacIntyre found out a long time ago how athletic he can be.

MacIntyre has known Awuzie since he was in the ninth grade at Oak Grove High School in San Jose, Calif., when MacIntyre was coaching at San Jose State.

“Oak Grove High School is a phenomenal football school there in San Jose,” MacIntyre said. “They came to our football camp as a team. They came every year. He was an exceptional athlete at the time. We recruited that high school and kids came from there.”

Awuzie made the game-ending interception last week when CU beat Oregon State to end the team’s 14-game Pac-12 losing streak. He has had sacks in three straight games and has five career sacks, third-most in CU history. He has four sacks this season, tops on the team. In the Oregon game he led the Buffs with 10 tackles, and he forced a fumble in the Arizona State game.

“He is a phenomenal football player who has gotten better and better every year,” MacIntyre said. “He started as a true freshman. I think he’s an All-Pac 12 football player. He makes plays, he sacks, he covers, he rushes, he does a little bit of everything.

“I’ve seen him grow up. It’s been exciting watching him turn in to a man.”

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CU’s Kenneth Olugbode makes a tackle in last year’s double-overtime loss last year to UCLA in Boulder. CU travels to UCLA this week. (Daily Camera, Cliff Grassmick)

Boulder — The last time Colorado played UCLA, the day ended in heartbreak for the Buffs as the Bruins escaped with a double-overtime win last year, 40-37. Making it sting even more, it was CU’s second double-overtime loss of the season.

Colorado fell behind 17-0 and 31-14 but fought back to tie the game with 36 seconds left in overtime. UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 200 yards and rushed for 110, including the 25 yards that covered the winning possession in the second OT.

Did the Buffs learn something from that game that can can help them this weekend?

“Yeah, there’s a lot of great things that we did last year,” quarterback Sefo Liufau said. “They’re a little bit different this year, in terms of what they run on defense. But I think with what we put in as a game plan for this week, I think we have a really good idea of what we want to do and how we want to accomplish it. I think it’s another great week to get a win. They’re obviously a great team — their offense is great, defense, special teams — but I think it’s going to be a great game. I think we’re setting ourselves up to have a really good shot at winning it.”

Hundley is gone, having been drafted in the fifth round by the Green Bay Packers. Now the Bruins are led by freshman sensation Josh Rosen, who has thrown for 300-plus yards his last two games — 399 vs. Cal, 325 vs. Stanford.

“I thought losing Hundley, they might take a step back at their quarterback spot, but Josh Rosen is an incredible freshman quarterback. He has great arm strength, sees the field, makes all the right throws,” said coach Mike MacIntyre. “He’s got a lot of weapons on offense.”

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Colorado hasn’t played a day game since Nicholls State came to Boulder on Sept. 26 (Daily Camera, Cliff Grassmick)

Boulder — After four straight night games, including some VERY late night games, the Colorado Buffs will get to play in the afternoon Saturday when they travel to UCLA.

The game will begin at 1 p.m. Mountain time, noon in California. Last week’s game at Oregon State began at 8:30 MDT, and the team didn’t get back to Colorado until 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

“It’ll be good,” said quarterback Sefo Liufau. “We practice in the morning, so I think we’ll be very prepared for this game at noon. It’s an earlier game, which we’re excited about, not sitting around the hotel all day, twiddling our thumbs waiting to go. Excited, and happy to get back (to Colorado) before midnight.”

Colorado’s game with Oregon on Oct. 3 didn’t begin until 9:07 p.m. because lightning storms in the area delayed an already late kickoff by an hour.

“We’re excited about playing a 12 o’clock kickoff,” said coach Mike MacIntyre. “Our kids are excited about getting up and playing instead of waiting around the hotel.”

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After a 23-month drought, CU coach Mike MacIntyre and his team could leave the field with smiles after a conference win. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre acknowledged that his team’s 17-13 win over Oregon State was unsightly at times, but for a team that had lost 14 consecutive Pac-12 games, style points weren’t important.

“We showed a lot of resolve and we showed a lot of guts,” MacIntyre said on KOA’s post-game show late Saturday night. “It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take an ugly win every day.”

Colorado’s defense had to nail it down in the fourth quarter when the offense struggled. After CU took a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter with an 85-yard touchdown drive, the offense could not manage another first down the rest of the game. The defense held OSU to a field goal on its next possession. The next OSU drive stalled on a fourth-down play at the CU 31. OSU went three and out on its next posession.

On OSU’s final possession, the Beavers got to the CU 40, aided by a Chidobe Awuzie pass interference call, but four plays later Awuzie intercepted with 24 seconds left to seal the victory, triggering a wild celebration for the Buffs.

“Chido won the game for us,” strong safety Tedric Thompson told KOA. “Everybody was screaming. I was just slapping Chido on the helmet. No words was coming out. It was a great feeling.”

It must be said that the Oregon State offense wasn’t very good with two freshmen quarterbacks, and that Oregon State is now 0-4 in the conference. Without running back Ryan Nall’s 122 yards rushing for OSU, this game wouldn’t have been close. But the Buffs needed to close out a game and they finally did.

Quarterback Sefo Liufau threw for only 140 yards, but he had no turnovers and he was CU’s leading rusher with 44 yards on 18 carries.

“We knew he could run, and he’s a powerful guy that can help us,” MacIntyre said. “Then they’d have to bring some more guys in the box. He scrambled on five or six. We weren’t planning on six scrambles, but we definitely planned on running him six to 10 times, depending on what they gave us.”

The Buffs had not won a conference game since Nov. 16, 2013, but they’ve been close in a lot of them. They lost four conference games last year by 15 points.

“It feels really good to finally come out and close a game,” Liufau told KOA. “The way we did it, we tested ourselves again and made it hard for ourselves, but this time we kept it in our own control and finished the game off right.”

Sefo Liufau carried a heavy load in the run game as CU beat Oregon State 17-13. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Yes, it was ugly. But it was gutsy, too.

Colorado ended its 14-game conference losing streak late Saturday night with a 17-13 win at Oregon State. The Buffs had to stop OSU twice in the late going and they were up to the challenge, the second stop coming when Chidobe Awuzie created the game’s only turnover with an interception to seal it with 24 seconds left after OSU had driven to the CU 40.

Coach Mike MacIntyre’s emotions were plain to see in the quick on-field interview he did with the Pac-12 Network right after the game ended.

“Whoo, this is awesome,” MacIntyre said. “It’s been a long road, and these kids just keep believing and believing and believing and believing. They’re resilient. It’s so awesome to be around young people and be able to see them mature.”

Junior quarterback Sefo Liufau ran 18 times for 44 yards and completed 16 of 23 passes for 140 yards. Donovan Lee added another 55 yards rushing on eight carries. The defense was stout with five sacks, while Liufau was sacked only once.

“We’re moving forward, we just need more wins to validate it, and this does it,” MacIntyre said. “This also teaches them about life. They keep hearing about how they can’t do stuff and they keep coming back and back and back. They’re going to hear the same thing in life, and they’ve got to keep stepping forward. I just love them and I’m proud of them.”

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Oregon State quarterback Seth Collins is the fourth-leading rushing QB in the nation but he may split time at the position this week against Colorado. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Oregon State quarterback Seth Collins has piled up some eye-popping numbers as a run-first quarterback this season, something that has concerned the Colorado Buffs as they prepared for Saturday night’s game in Corvallis, but it’s sounding as if they could face two quarterbacks in the game.

OSU went into the season with Collins, a true freshman, and Marcus McMaryion, a redshirt freshman, competing for the starting job. Collins won it with a huge game in the season opener, rushing for 152 yards against Weber State. Through six games he is averaging 81 yards rushing per game, making him the fourth-leading rusher among quarterbacks in the nation.

But he has struggled the past two weeks, and he’s taken a lot of hits. In a 52-31 loss to Washington State last week, Collins rushed for 124 yards on 23 carries but was 17-of-30 passing for 176 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Now it’s looking as if Collins could split time with redshirt freshman Nick Mitchell Saturday night.

“The great thing is when a young man (Mitchell) — especially with a very young football team — has proved himself to practice well enough to get into a game situation and see how he can react and how he is going to play, and then the opportunity presents itself, we’ll play him,” OSU coach Gary Andersen told reporters after Collins and Mitchell split reps in Thursday’s practice. “And if that’s at the quarterback spot this week, then so be it in certain situations.

“Seth’s gonna start the game, and we’ll see how it goes as we move forward throughout the game.”

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Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s team is undefeated and ranked third in the country, it’s highest regular season ranking. (Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)

When Utah left the Mountain West Conference four years ago to join the Pac-12, some might wondered if the Utes could be competitive in their storied new conference.

They’re doing pretty well. Utah is ranked third in the nation in this week’s AP poll, its highest-ever regular season ranking. Utah was ranked No. 2 in the poll released after the bowl games of the 2008 season.

The Utes have a big game this week at Southern Cal, which is still in turmoil since the firing of Steve Sarkisian.

Since Utah and Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011, CU has finished last in the Southern Division every year. CU’s conference record over that period is 4-35, including three losses this season. Utah’s conference record is 17-22.

Utah got a lot of attention this season after destroying what was thought at the time to be a good Oregon team, 62-20, but the Utes also beat Cal (5-1 this season) and Arizona State (4-3). Cal is ranked 19th this week, its highest ranking since 2009. Utah also beat Michigan 24-17.

Five Pac-12 teams have been ranked in the top 10 at some point this season. CU hasn’t been ranked since 2005.

CU wide receiver Shay Fields grabs his leg in pain after suffering a high ankle sprain while scoring a late touchdown last week. He will miss this week’s game at Oregon State. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Boulder — Critics don’t like it when injuries are used as an excuse for a team’s problems, but sometimes that helps explain why a team is struggling.

Shay Fields, CU’s big-play receiver, will miss this week’s game at Oregon State because of a high ankle sprain suffered late in the loss to Arizona last week. With him unavailable, that means eight of 22 first-string players will have missed games this year.

They include left tackle Jeromy Irwin and inside linebacker Addison Gillam (both out for the season with knee injuries), running back Michael Adkins, inside linebacker Kenneth Olugbode and tackle Sam Kronshage.

CU has had 34 players who made their on-field debuts this season. That is the third-most in the nation behind Kansas (37) and TCU (36). CU has also had the third-most first-time starters (18).

CU linebacker Kenneth Olugbode (31), who returns to the starting lineup this week after missing two games, is lucky his leg injury wasn’t much worse (Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera).

Boulder — Colorado inside linebacker Kenneth Olugbode is lucky to be back in the starting lineup this week after missing only two games with acute compartment syndrome in his leg, much less than the initial prognosis of six to eight weeks.

For that matter, he’s lucky the injury wasn’t much, much worse. Compartment syndrome occurs when fluid builds up in a muscle compartment — in Olugbode’s case, in response to a blow to the muscle in the Oregon game — and it can become a very serious situation. An athlete with compartment syndrome can lose a limb in extreme cases.

Olubgode had surgery the night of the injury to relieve pressure in the muscle compartment.

“They took him (to the hospital) during the game as soon as they realized what was happening, so they didn’t have to make as big an incision,” MacIntyre said. “They made two small incisions. They would have had to make a big, big incision (if not for quick action) and the healing process would have taken a lot longer. They got the pressure off, it’s healed correctly, no infection, so they’ve released him to play and he’s ready to roll.”

Initially the injury felt to Olugbode felt like a bruise, but gradually it got much worse. He had surgery about 2 a.m. the night of the game.

“They did all these tests on me and said I had to go to get surgery,” Olugbode said. “It was kind of crazy, how fast it all happened.”

He knows how lucky he is.

“Extremely blessed,” Olugbode said. “I’m really happy to be back.”

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Oregon State coach Gary Andersen is new to his team’s series with Colorado, but he’s wary of the Buffs because of how close they kept the score in the Oregon and Arizona games.

“Colorado is a team that has played a bunch of teams very, very close and has a very physical nature on the offensive side of the ball,” Andersen said. “The biggest thing that jumps out is they were right there in so many games. I know their record is not what they’d like it to be … but it’s a team that is playing very competitive football week in and week out.”

Andersen left Wisconsin last December to take the OSU job after Mike Riley departed for Nebraska. In Buffs quarterback Sefo Liufau, he sees experience and the ability to make big plays.

“He’s athletic, he’s really no longer tagged as a young quarterback,” Andersen said. “He understands his offense and he’s got some great playmakers around him. Experienced quarterbacks are something that’s very valuable. He’s another good one. We’ll have to make sure we do what we can to confuse him. If you can get that done with the quarterback week in and week out, you’ll be successful. We were unable to do that for one half last week, and I think we were able to do that for the most part in the third and fourth quarters. It wasn’t enough. This week we’ve got to find a way to do it for a whole game.”

Oregon State gave up 45 points in the first half last week at Washington State but held the Cougars to one touchdown in the second half en route to losing 52-31.

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Sandy Robinson, a 1965 Colorado grad who is attending a 50-year class reunion at homecoming, poses with Ralphie and two grandsons. Luke, left, is 7 and Trey is 9. They’re wearing Arizona gear because their mom, Anne Zurcher, went there.

Boulder — Sandy Robinson won’t say how old she is. Not exactly.

“Old enough to be at my 50th reunion,” Robinson said with a laugh this evening at “Raphie’s Corral,” a pre-game gathering place for fans and cheerleaders across the street from Folsom Field.

Robinson and her husband, also a 1965 CU grad, have season tickets.

“We come to all the games,” Robinson said. “We’re great Buff fans.”

Two of her sons graduated from CU, but daughter Anne Zurcher went to Arizona, CU’s opponent for homecoming.

“She slipped (away),” Robinson said.

Robinson concedes it has been difficult to be a CU fan in recent years.

“Very, very difficult,” Robinson said. “But we’re loyal fans. We’ll keep coming. Go Buffs. They’re going to put it all together soon. I have good faith in them.”

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Arizona’s dual threat quarterback Anu Solomon could ruin CU’s homecoming, feasting on a defense that is missing its top three inside linebackers (Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images).

Boulder — Last year as a redshirt freshman, Arizona dual threat quarterback Anu Solomon tormented Colorado, throwing for 211 yards and four touchdown passes while rushing for another 115 in a 38-20 Arizona win.

This season he has completed 92-of-145 passes and is averaging 224 yards per game with a quarterback rating of 153.4.

Tasked with stopping him is a CU defense that is missing its top three inside linebackers. The four inside linebackers who can play are three freshmen and a sophomore. What do they have to do to contain Solomon and the Wildcats’ spread offense?

“You’ve got to read your keys,” CU coach Mike MacIntyre said. “The thing he does, he just keeps the play alive. In coverage you have to stay on your guys. Your linebackers have to stay in the right gap. If you’re a defensive end, you’ve got to stay in your right gap. He creates plays, and we’ve got to be able to run him down sometimes. He really can keep the play alive for a long time. That’s where they make some big plays.”

Arizona is ranked ninth in the nation in offense at 530 yards per game and is seventh in scoring (42.3).

Rick Gamboa has played well since CU lost inside linebacker Addison Gillam (Cliff Grassmick, Daily Camera).

Boulder — When the season began it looked like inside linebacker would be a strength of the Colorado defense with Addison Gillam and Kenneth Olugbode. But when the Buffs host Arizona Saturday night for homecoming, they will have four available players at that position with a grand total of seven starts.

Gillam went down in the second game with a knee injury, and he’s not ready to return yet. Olugbode was hurt in the Oregon game and is several weeks away from being able to return.

Rick Gamboa, a redshirt freshman, has played well since Gillam’s injury and has four career starts. Ryan Seversen made his first start last week after Olugbode was lost, but he’s out with a high ankle sprain. The next men up are two true freshmen, N.J. Falo and Grant Watanabe, and sophomore Christian Shaver, who got three starts last year.

Coach Mike MacIntyre said the starter beside Gamboa will be either Falo or Watanabe.

“Going back and forth in practice,” MacIntyre said, “but they’ll both play in the game.”

MacIntyre seems high on Watanabe, who was unable to participate in spring drills because of a LisFranc foot sprain.

“He had that foot injury, he came back from that, kind of hurt his shoulder a little bit in fall camp, so he was a little bit behind,” MacIntyre said. “Now he’s completely healthy and been able to get a lot of reps the last couple weeks. Then Seversen went down, so he’s being prepared (to be) ready to go. I look forward to watching him play. I think he’ll do well. He’s very physical, has really good instincts, so I’m glad he’s healthy now.”

MacIntyre said Gamboa has made a lot of big plays since replacing Gillam.

“He’s had some mistakes, but overall, as a redshirt freshman first year playing, he really, really diagnoses well on the field — very, very bright — and has done some really good things for us.”

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Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.